Citation

Discussion Paper Details

Please find the details for DP12408 in an easy to copy and paste format below:

Full Details   |   Bibliographic Reference

Full Details

Title: Trade, Merchants and Lost Cities of the Bronze Age

Author(s): Gojko Barjamovic, Thomas Chaney, Kerem Cosar and Ali Hortacsu

Publication Date: October 2017

Keyword(s): economic geography, economic history and Trade

Programme Area(s): Economic History and International Trade and Regional Economics

Abstract: We analyze a large dataset of commercial records produced by Assyrian merchants in the 19th Century BCE. Using the information collected from these records, we estimate a structural gravity model of long-distance trade in the Bronze Age. We use our structural gravity model to locate lost ancient cities. In many instances, our structural estimates confirm the conjectures of historians who follow different methodologies. In some instances, our estimates confirm one conjecture against others. Confronting our structural estimates for ancient city sizes to modern data on population, income, and regional trade, we document persistent patterns in the distribution of city sizes across four millennia, even after controlling for time-invariant geographic attributes such as agricultural suitability. Finally, we offer evidence in support of the hypothesis that large cities tend to emerge at the intersections of natural transport routes, as dictated by topography.

For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=12408

Bibliographic Reference

Barjamovic, G, Chaney, T, Cosar, K and Hortacsu, A. 2017. 'Trade, Merchants and Lost Cities of the Bronze Age'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=12408